STEPS - Strengthen Teacher Education for Equitable Practices in Swedish Schools

Purpose of the research school

Teachers are the school's single most important resource. Despite this, the teaching profession and teacher education today face several major challenges. In addition to their teaching assignment, teachers are expected to deal with complex issues such as mental illness among students, segregation and social vulnerability. Sweden has developed from a relatively equal welfare state to an increasingly segregated society with large income gaps, where lack of equality and segregation characterize the school system and make it more difficult for schools and teachers to compensatory tasks. These circumstances therefore place higher demands on teacher educators, who must be equipped to prepare the teachers of the future for a reality where issues of equality, inclusion and social justice are central. 

The overall purpose of the STEPS graduate school is to offer future teacher educators a doctoral education that is based on current research on equivalence, school segregation and the school's social mission. Through course development, practice-based initiatives and close collaboration with active teachers, doctoral students are given tools to understand and deal with questions about how schools can become more equal, inclusive and better fulfil their compensatory mission. STEPS links research and pedagogical practice and ensures that the teacher educators of the future will be both academically grounded and relevant to the reality of school. In the longer term, STEPS will contribute to developing and supporting a new generation of teachers who can put this knowledge into practice and create inclusive, equitable and conducive learning environments in Swedish schools.

The STEPS graduate school will serve as a national and international collaboration platform where doctoral students gather to develop the research front in teacher education. STEPS will generate new and socially relevant knowledge about the equivalence of education and school segregation, as well as to develop evidence-based recommendations and strategies to counteract inequality and segregation in Swedish schools. By combining interdisciplinary expertise, methodological excellence and close links to practice, STEPS will help shape resilient and professionally confident teachers and researchers who can make a difference in the educational landscape of the future.

Structure

STEPS will include three thematic research areas spanning three different higher education institutions: (1) Equal learning opportunities and the long-term consequences of segregation (University of Gothenburg), (2) How housing, school choice and spatial inequality affect segregation in preschool and early educational differences (Uppsala University) and (3) Professional boundaries and ethical dilemmas in teaching (Stockholm University). Three dissertation projects will be carried out under each thematic research area. The dissertation projects will be closely linked to the 8-year research programme School Segregation in Sweden (SSIS), which is funded by the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences between 2025–2032. The SSIS programme will constitute the primary research environment for STEPS doctoral students' research activities.

Members

_{Steering group}

Kajsa Yang Hansen, Professor

Department of Education and Special Needs Education, University of Gothenburg

Stefan Johansson, Senior Lecturer

Department of Education and Special Needs Education, University of Gothenburg

Mara Westling Allodi, Professor

Department of Special Education, Stockholm University

Håkan Forsberg, Senior Lecturer

Department of Education, Didactics and Sociology of Education

_Supervisors

Håkan Forsberg, Senior Lecturer

Department of Education, Didactics and Sociology of Education

Andreas Alm Fjellborg, Researcher

Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF)

Dissertationprojects